When the Moon Rises Again Part 2
The original world and tribes belong to Tui Sutherland, the fanfic belongs to StarlighttheNightwing, and the wiki has copyrights. Please do not edit except for grammar, spelling, etc (small things). note: because of ChangeWing blood from the lost continent, a dragon itn't necessarily a hybrid when their parents are from different tribes, although it somtimes happens. Instead they usually inherit one of their parents' forms. Parts in Fanfic * Backstory (Nyril) * Era of Starlight to add more as they come Character Role * Starlight * Kamara * Coral * Synthia * Azalea * Tyrone "Life is a river, Starlight. You've just been lucky enough to avoid learning the truth of it. The same way the displacement of a single riverstone can cause major change in the riverbed, one dragon's decisions can change the world. Legends are made from faults -- a mistake for a story, or not at all." Mynah Moon-Born Centuries after the trials of Klaartje, Nyril's next descendant was born under the light of three full moons. Two dragons were bound by these moons, on different parts of the same continent. Both were NightWing, at least in part, and were destined for strange things. Neither would meet the other until it was too late and their fates were sealed in their choices. But for now, everything was just a possibility in a vast field of choices and consequences and actions, all too far away to unravel. It was with these possibilities-- with the gifts to see these possibilities -- that a NightWing-ChangeWing was born. She had scales darker than night, offset by patterns of constellations across her wings, and a small scythe-shaped bone at the end of her tail. The scythe was from her ansector Nyril, having adapted from a sword form into a compact, sharp, double-horned weapon. Oddest of all, the newly hatched Nightwing had double-colored eyes which captured the moonlight. On the outer iris, they shone with midnight-blue radiance, while closer to her pupil, they were bright zircon, with no transition in between. Before the -- very-- young NightWing had much more than a chance to look up in admiration of the moons shining upon her and the broken silvery eggshell, soft talonfalls inturrupted the quiet. A small SeaWing only about a month older than her NightWing counterpart burst between where the newly hatched dragonet's proud parents stood. Just behind her errant daughter, an apologetic SeaWing mother panted quietly. "Coral, com here! Coral!" To the NightWing's parents she added, "I'm sorry, she got away from me. Coral!" The SeaWing, Coral, heard but didn't obey. Instead she took the tiny NightWing's talons in her own, and nuzzled her cheeck against the NightWing's gently. Coral startled back as the NightWing's tongue flicked her face, but came forward again. "Starlight," Coral whispered, quiet but firm, though the wind could have blown the sound away easily. "You call Starlight." Her words were broken -- it was a wonder she knew them at all -- but it was clear that the dragonet, not Starlight's parents, had just named her. Coral's mother, worried about disturbing the new family, reached for her daughter, but was stopped by the NightWing's mother. "Look," Salunki whispered. "They're bonding." Indeed, the dragonets had curled up together, watching the stars as they drifted off to sleep. "But . . . it's so rare . . . " the Seawing didn't have to finish. Any dragonets who met each other just after hatching always became close friends, and usually went on to become important in the tribe. All three parents, NightWing, RainWing, and SeaWing, watched the dragonets for a qiet moment. "I'll tell the queen, Salunki," Starlight's NightWing father said at last. "That seems best, with what's happened here." The RainWing nodded, watching for a moment as her mate flew away. It was possible that what had happened was a fluke, that neither was destined, but between Coral's calling to come and Starlight's strong powers from the moons, it was very unlikely. Both mothers watched their dragonets rest in the stillness of the night, as the moons rose higher and stars began to fade, blissfully unaware what a truly imporatnt role their duaghters wold play in their tribe's fate. None of them would know to be free from doubt or worry, not until later. Later, when forces would collide. Two things happened this star-crossed night. First, a great pair of friends had been joined -- in a couple of months to meet a SkyWing as well. Second, the two moon-bron dragonets, while never knowing each other, some of the most powerful dragons in the world. One of them would change the world, and the other would have to choose. It was only a matter of who erred first, for neither would be free from mistakes. Legends were to be told, either way. Bonds of Infinity "Hurry up, Starlight!" The young SkyWing called. "We're going to miss it if you don't!" Grumbling, Starlight flapped her wings a little harder. Coral lagged behind her, lazily flapping, so why wasn't Kamara yelling at her? "Azalea and Tyrone are going to be there, too. It's going to be the last we can see them for a while," Coral added helpfully, trying to add spur to their flight. The eldest royal siblings usually found a way to hang out with 'less dry, and much less boring' commoners, as Azalea said, and had become close friends with Coral, Starlight, and Kamara for all their rank and age difference. Starlight didn't need reminding. She'd been mentally clocking down the days until Prince Tyrone and Princess Azalea, the heir apparent, departed for the desert for their first diplomatic mission. At age 5 (and slightly more than 5), the oldest children of Queen Olivine were only a couple years older than Starlight and her friends, but already were preparing to lead the kingdom. "You can go on ahead if you want, Kamara. We're only slowing you down," Starlight said to her SkyWing friend. It wasn't just a matter of Kamara's naturally large wings, but also that her inherited ChangeWing ability was speed. Asa result, Kamara was probably the fastest dragon in the tribe, and almost certainly among the finest in the world. "Nonsense!" Kamra yelled back. For all her bluster of leaving them behind, she'd never actually do so. Partly because of Coral', Starlight thought. The SeaWing had trouble mastering her flight, as she spent much of her time trying to tame her magical abilities. Before the sometimes less-than-tactful Kamara could point this out, Starlight added "Didn't they say the Bonding is going to be soon?" "Really?!" Kamara and Coral nearly chorused. It was something they'd all been looking forward to for a while. At age 3, the ChangeWing tribe permitted the ancient custom of Bonding. The ceremony was one almost all participated in, as groups of close friends would be Bound together. Often, the dragonets would be able to feel the general direction of where their friends were after wards. Once full grown after their 7th birthday, the bound dragonets would transfer parts of their ChangeWing inheritance to their friends as well. For these three, it meant Starlight's NightWing powers, Kamara's speed, and Coral's magic. Starlight smiled, "Yup. I overheard our teacher just yesterday saying something about it . . ." Landing on a rocky ledge so she could look back at them, Kamra raised one eyebrow. "Saying something about it, or thinking it, Starlight?" Both Coral and Kamara knew firsthand how well Starlight's mind reading came in handy, especially if the parents of said dragonets were not pleased with them and it would be a good idea to disappear suddenly. Normally this was all the mind reading that was allowed int eh tribe, but Starlight was too independent and was easily fed up with all the rules. 'It's like they've spread tripwires out for us, only in the form of guidence,' she often siad. When important events came across her viewscreen, Starlight often 'accidentally' let her mental shields drop. "Well, okay, maybe I heard part of it outloud," Starlight ammended, guilty. Coral chuckled softly, flying ahead of them. "I don't see why you berat her on this all the time, kamara. You're just as guilty." "For WHAT, taking information that someone gave to me?!" Kamra responded, catching up with ease. "Nope. For spying, and then rocketing away so they won't find out. Think I didn't notice when my pantry is mysteriously empyting itself, or the supplies from school that you always lose but somehow replace overnight? You're quiet the thief of the physical." "And you benefit too," Kamara snapped back. "Besides, don't be telling me that you haven't used your 'fjre once or twice for something mundane." Fjri was what the ChangeWings called their magical powers, with different prefixes from their ancient tongue to describe what type it was. "Hey, hey," Starlight interrupted, not that she had a problem witht he arguement. "There they are." The dragonets had reached the platfrom where the royal duo was going to take off soon.The prince, a firescales SkyWing, had been learning to control his fire, and his progress showed in only a small haze of smoke surrounding him. Tyrone's older sister and the heir apparent, Princess Azalea, stood with her RainWing head held high. Most of hte dragonets Azalea's age (or any, for htat matter) envied her. Azalea was one of only a few dozen ChangeWings with the ability to shapeshift to multiple tribes. Azaleas teachers had taught her how to transform into any tribe, with varying degrees of success, but her most common form to the public view was RainWing. Starlight knew this wasn't actually her favorite form, which was SeaWing, and she knewt here was a long story behind the whole thing, which she hadn't been allowed to hear as yet. Her parents had fantastic mental shields, after living with their strongly gifted daughter for several years, as did all the royal family and nobel-teachers, a necessary requirement for any dragon who might possess vital information. Before Starlight could get more than a glimpse of Queen Olivine standing majestically in her shimmering RainWing form and jewels of status, which were slightly less than her full court regalia, a young ChangeWing came bounding up to where her mother stood just behind her older siblings. This was the youngest princess, Synthia, and her mainform was a rare one--an actual combanation of all the tribes. A SandWing venom bard and scales along her tail, along with large SkyWing wings, SeaWing webbed feet, and bright pink RainWing head were some of the more noticeable. Starlight knew that the majority of Synthia's scales were IceWing, as well as her firesacks being filled with frostbreath instead. Strong MudWing legs and torso were denoted by amber scales along her underbelly, making it very clear Synthia's wrestling abilities were not to trifle with. Oddly enough, Synthia had no NightWing abilites or scales other than a starry pattern of silver scales on her crimson wings. The youngest Princess, only a year and a half old but very intelligent for her age, gave quick hugs to both of her siblings, and didn't protest when her mother lifted her off the ground and onto her back. While Starlight knew that only Tyrone and Azalea were leaving for the Kingdom of Sand, it still felt like they were all going. This was amplified by the fact that a dozen guards surrounded the royal family, most of which would be leaving for the mission. Starligth could tell when Azalea noticed them, becaise she immediately waved them over. It wasn't like the three were hard too miss--even in the ChangeWing kingdom there were stereotypes, and aving three dragon s of otherwise evemy tribes as best friends was a little weird. It was only when Starlight had touched down in front of Azalea did she realize how worried th princess looked. "Hey," she tried to comfort, "It's just a trip into the desert." "A trip into the desert where I'm supposed to negotiate with SandWing officials on the border lines, like Mother did last year, because nobody's happy we own these mountains." Azalea's calm blue color became a little more green with fear, but she quickly shifted her scales back. Starlight knew all too well. Once the other tribes had started to expand, claiming more territory and running into the ChangeWings more often, they realize the ChangeWings had control of a varied portion of land that several tribes wanted. The MudWings argued over the large lake under ChangeWIng control, the NightWings and SkyWings both wanted the mountain range the dragons lived in, the SandWings declared all of the desert of theirs and theirs alone, and it was all the queen could do to keep the RainWings from declaring war over a part of the raiforest claimed by the ChangeWings. Since the SandWings were the least volitile of the bunch, as none of their precious oasis were in the part of hte desert owned by the ChangeWings, there were often negotiations with them, and an alliance was being considered. "I wish the queen didn't think that you need to learn how to negotiate, or at least not send you off to an on-going stalemate, anyways," Kamara put in, and Starlight nodded agreement. "You mean you want to be able to protect us because you don't trust the guards?" Azalea said with a smile. It did sound absurd when she put it like that-- two dragonets learning the basics of fighting could hardly be any help, especially when Azalae and Tyrone themselves had enough battle training to take down almost anyone. Just then Tyrone approached his sister and friends, eyes dancing merrily in the sunlight. Leaning forward, he wispered in the ChangeWing ancient language, one they were all required to learn, "You'd best get back to your studies before anyone notices you're missing. Whatever excuse you came up with can't last much longer." Guiltily the three dragonets glanced at each other They'd coordinated their excuses, but even being in different classes at this time of day, it wouldn't take the teachers long to find out what really went down. Coral had claimed she had a stomach ache, and might be sick if she didn't get some water, Kamara said she'd seen Coral running to the nurses' office, and wanted to check on her, and Starlight said she'd not seen Kamra all day and was going to drag her into class. The excuses worked, both because all three were straight-a students and had never been caught at doing anything wrong --''caught'' being the operative word--and because these occuances actually happened. As a side effect from her magic, Coral was sometimes sick in one way or another, and Kamara sometimes tried to skip class but was always brought in by one of her friends, who siad they couldn't live without her, but really didn't want to see her in trouble. (Since I hate it when people put down 'wip' or 'tbc' at the end of these, I'm not going to. Just remember that more is coming, even if you've given up hope!) Category:Fanfictions Category:Fanfictions (Incomplete) Category:Fanfictions (Semi-Canon)